CA2540565A1

CA2540565A1 - Punch and peel pack for dispensing medicants

Info

Publication number: CA2540565A1
Application number: CA002540565A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Thomas D. Intini
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-03-21
Filing date: 2006-03-21
Publication date: 2007-09-21
Also published as: US20070221534A1; WO2007106995A1

Description

PUNCH AND PEEL PACK
FOR DISPENSING MEDICANTS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tamper evident, senior friendly and child resistant package of the type operable by means of a combination punch out and with a delamination feature tear strip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blister packs are well known in the art and are widely used to package individual items such as different forms of medication including tablets, capsules and the like. In addition, the packaging of a small amount of liquid in an individual blister is known.

Usually, the item or product is accessed through the rear of the blister pack which is provided with a tear strip.

As aforementioned, there are three different properties which any packaging ideally possesses. The first is that the package should be tamper evident such that there will be provided a clear indication when the package has been subject to tampering. A
second feature is that the package be child resistant. As aforementioned, such packages are frequently used for medication and it is inherently desirable that one prevents young children from accessing the contents of the blister pack.

However, in making such packaging child resistant, it is also important that the package still be readily openable by those taking the medication. Since the most frequent users of medication are seniors, one must take into account the limits of their ability when they are suffering from various physical problems.

A conventional blister package usually comprises a laminate of a blister layer having article receiving pockets formed therein and with the article receiving pockets being covered by a foil backing layer. This foil backing layer is usually a form of an aluminum foil which is rupturable to permit access to the product in the blister pocket. While such a package is inherently tamper evident unless the whole foil layer is replaced, it is not very child resistant and indeed can prove attractive to some children.

To overcome this, there has been suggestions in the art, such as shown in U.S.
Patent 4,537,312 to Intini, to include such certain child resistant features. In the arrangement of Intini, there is provided a blister package having a front layer and outer back layer which are sized larger than the conventional package and sealed to one another around their periphery and through apertures in the laminate. Unexposed tabs are provided at the edges of the back layers and which tabs are connected to tear strips in the back layer, each of which overlays the foil covering a blister pocket. The periphery of the top data layer has diecut, perforated ovals centered above each of the cavities. To expose the lead area of the unexposed back layer tab, one must push on the diecut, perforated oval. The push actions will expose the lead area of the tab sufficiently for one to be able to take hold of the now exposed tab. On removing the tear strips in the back layer, there will be left a layer or stratum of paperboard which overlays the foil to thereby reinforce it and make it more difficult for the child to access the product in the blister pocket.

A further feature which must always be considered in designing such products is the ability to efficiently manufacture the package at a reasonable cost. It is also highly desirable that the results be reproductible. This child resistant push tab feature was also invented for the purpose of adding electronic printed circuitry to the packaging. When electronic circuitry is bent, the circuitry can break and render the circuitry useless.
This concept allows

-2-one to open the packaging without having to bend the packaging and keep the circuitry alive for the life of the package.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide blister pack packaging which is tamper evident, senior friendly, child resistant and capable of adding electronic circuitry.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide blister pack packaging which is easy to manufacture and overcomes some of the deficiencies of the prior art packaging.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a child resistant and senior friendly tamper evident package, the package comprising a blister sheet having at least one blister pocket projecting from a front side thereof, a diecut, perforated, pushable oval which can be easily separated from the data layer, a rupturable foil layer sealed to a back side of the blister sheet to form a continuous cover over the blister pocket, the foil layer having a thickness and being formed of a material which can be ruptured to provide access to the pocket, a reinforcing layer of a paperboard material, the reinforcing layer having a first side with at least portions thereof adhered to the foil layer, at least some of the adhered portions in registry with the blister pockets, the paperboard layer having at least one line of weakening extending from the first side into the board, at least one line of weakening being located in a portion overlying the blister packet, at least one line of weakening extending into said board for only a portion of the thickness of the board, and a tear strip formed in said reinforcing layer, the tear strip being associated with the blister pocket such that the reinforcing layer will delaminate when the tear strip is pulled.

In one embodiment of the invention, the delamination of the paperboard and the ability to eject the product fromt he pocket is controlled by providing a line of weakening

-3-formed in the paperboard on the face line adjacent to the foil. This line of weakening permits the product to be dispensed from the blister pocket with less effort than would otherwise be the case. At the same time, the line of weakening is not evident to a child since it does not extend through that portion of the paperboard which remains covering the blister pocket.

In a further aspect of the present invention, the tear strip is interconnected to an unexposed tab and which unexposed tab is designed to be pushed through by pushing on the diecut, perforated oval overlaying the lead area of the back layer pull tab to pull the paperboard material from the back of the foil. In this respect, the paperboard is only adhered to the foil, which has 15 lbs of tissue laminated to the foil about the periphery of the blister pocket.

After removal of the paperboard material, the foil may be removed by pushing the foil in the area of the depression formed in the blister layer. This prevents removal of the foil with less effort than would otherwise be the case.

The contents in the blister pocket are conventionally tablets or capsules or the like.
The materials utilized in the present invention are well known in the art.
Thus, the blister layer may be formed with a number of blister pockets projecting from a front side thereof, each designed to receive a unit dosage of a pharmaceutical product or indeed, some other product. The sheet may comprise a normally rectangular continuous blister sheet of flexible clear material which cannot be easily torn or ruptured. Typically, such a film would be a vinyl thermoplastic film having a thickness in excess of 10 mil.

The rupturable film sealed to the back side of the blister sheet is also well known in the art and may be selected from many known materials. Typically, such rupturable foils are

-4-of aluminum material having a thickness in the range of 1 mil with 15 lbs of tissue paper laminated to the foil and which may be joined to the blister sheet by conventional adhesives such as heat seal or coatings well known in the art.

In those applications wherein a paper layer is utilized, it again may use a heat sealable adhesive and comprise paper having a weight of between 13 pounds to 17 pounds.

The reinforcing layer is preferably a paper product such as paperboard. The tear strips in the paperboard layer may be defined by parallel lines of perforations or slits in the outwardly facing side to thereby form longitudinal tear lines which define the tear strip. At one end of the strip, there may be a tab which is not sealed to the foil/paper layer.

In those applications wherein only unsupport foil is utilized, the foil overlaying the cavity containing the product is sealed to the tab. In this preferred embodiment of the present invention,, the line of weakening defining the tab may extend into the paperboard for a depth of preferably between 10 and 40% of the thickness of the paperboard and more preferably, approximately 30% of the thickness.

Where the tab joins the tear strip, there is preferably a cut from the inner facing side of the paperboard which extends between 60 and 90% of the thickness of the paperboard.

In the above described embodiment, there is also provided a line of weakening which is cut into the paperboard from the inner side thereof at the position where the capsule will be ejected from the blister pocket. This line of weakening assists in dispensing of the product and may extend into the paperboard for a distance of between 10 and 40% of the thickness thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the

-5-accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded view illustrating the various components of a package according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1 when the package is assembled;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating partial opening of the package by delamination of the tear strip;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figures 2 and 3 illustrating the final step in the dispensing of the capsule from the package; and Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the first step of Figure 3 in opening the package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings in a greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in Figure 1 an exploded view of a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, there is provided a blister layer 10 which has a plurality of blister pockets 12 formed therein in a conventional manner.

Designed to be placed on top of a blister layer 10 is a data layer 14. Data layer 14 that may carry pertinent information has cut-outs to receive the blister pockets and 14 diecut, perforated ovals 11 thereon. To this end, data layer 14 is generally of a paperboard material.

Secured to the underside of blister layer 10 is a rupturable foil layer 16.
Such rupturable foil layers are well known in the art.

A paperboard reinforcing layer 18 is secured to rupturable foil layer 16 by means of a conventional adhesive 17. Paperboard layer 18 has a first side which lies adjacent to

-6-rupturable foil layer 16 and a second exteriorly facing side.

As is known in the art, tear strips 24 are formed in paperboard layer 18 as described in greater detail herein below. Tear strips 24 each individually overly one of the blister pockets 12 and are defined by a traditional line of weakening.

Associated with each tear strip 24 is a tab 26. Tabs 26 are sealed to foil layer 16 and, as may be seen in Figures 2 to 4, each tab 26 is defined by a slit 28 which extends completely through paperboard layer 18. However, at the point where tab 26 meets tear strip 24, there is provided a further slit 32 extending from first side 20 and extending for a depth of approximately 70% of the thickness of the paperboard layer 18.

There is also provided a slit 30 at the distal end of tear strip 24. A partial cut 32, as may be seen in Figures 2 through 4, extends through first side 20 of paperboard layer 18.
However, partial cut 32 extends to a depth substantially less than that of slit 32 for reasons which will become apparent hereinbelow. Typically, partial cut 30 may extend into paperboard layer a distance approximately equal to 30% of the thickness of paperboard layer 18.

In order to provide access to capsule 40 which is contained in blister pocket 12, tab 26 is lifted as indicated by arrow 38 in Figure 3. As the continued lifting motion is applied, an upper approximately 30% of paperboard layer 18 will tend to delaminate. The extent of the delamination can be controlled by the depth of slit 32.

After removing approximately 30% of paperboard layer 18, there will remain 70%
of the paperboard layer. However, where partial cut 32 is located, there will be only 40% of the paperboard layer thus permitting easier exit of capsule 40 when pressure is applied to blister pockets 12 indicated by arrow 42.

-7-Thus, by providing ovals 11 which are defined by a line of weakening on layer 14, one is able to push through ovals 11 which overlie tabs 26 and are located adjacent the edge of blister layer 10. When pushing through, one is then permitted access to tab 26 without the bending or folding of the pack.

In an alternative embodiment, one may be provided direct access to the rupturable foil layer 16 without using the arrangement described above with respect to paperboard layer 18. This will permit an easier opening of the pack though will provide slightly less security.

It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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